The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target to $73.00

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs cut its price target for Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and kept a "neutral" rating, implying about an 8.27% upside from the current share price.
• MarketBeat shows a consensus "Hold" rating and a consensus price target of $85.27, while several other analysts have recently trimmed targets or started coverage with mostly neutral/market-perform stances.
• Shares traded at $67.42 (up ~1.6%), market cap is about $22.95B, and recent quarterly results showed EPS of $0.93 (beat) with revenue of $1.61B (slightly below estimates) and year-over-year revenue up 35.7%; institutions own roughly 71% of the stock.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $82.00 to $73.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the financial services provider's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.27% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BRO. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $85.27.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Brown & Brown stock traded up $1.05 on Wednesday, reaching $67.42. The company had a trading volume of 551,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,420,917. The firm has a market cap of $22.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $69.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.23. Brown & Brown has a 1 year low of $63.29 and a 1 year high of $121.70.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 17.84%.Brown & Brown's quarterly revenue was up 35.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 81.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,639,392,000 after acquiring an additional 7,827,992 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth approximately $516,837,000. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth $371,654,000. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 132.8% during the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 4,538,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $361,725,000 after purchasing an additional 2,589,048 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Brown & Brown by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,445,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821,229 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc NYSE: BRO is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.

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